Category: The Hike

Day 30 Hwy 19E to White Rocks Mtn (21.7 miles) 415.4 total miles Stayed in Newland, NC last night. Hitched a ride back to trail. Probably hitched 6 rides now. Get picked up by pickup trucks more than cars and usually have me ride in back! Guess I won't be staying here! Below is Jones... Continue reading →

Day 31 White Rocks Mtn. to Vandeventer Shelter (20.7 miles). 436.1 miles total One month in and I'm nearly 20% complete. Moving at pace close to what I expected. 3 zero days for weather weren't factored into equation! I am trying to guess where I will be on June 1. I am flying from somewhere to... Continue reading →

Day 32 Vandeventer Shelter to McQueens Knob (21.2 miles) 457.3 miles total A few showers today but not enough to make the trail wet and slippery. I'll take that. Made for third straight 20+ mile day. Below is view from near where I camped last night. Can't get away from Wataugua Lake. Trail went right... Continue reading →

Day 33 McQueens Knob to Damascus, VA (11.9 miles). 469.2 total miles Wind howled all night. Got pretty chilly, too. Took a while to get going as was waiting for it to warm up a bit before rolling out of sleeping bag. Made it to VA. 3 states finished...only 11 to go! Trail is in... Continue reading →

Day 34 Damascus, VA Zero Day Miss Ginny fixes an amazing breakfast at the Lazy Fox...blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, fruit, biscuits. Smells great in the house when she is cooking! I did not meet Mac at his house last night for the moonshine. Decided it wouldn't be prudent. Directions were to walk about... Continue reading →

Day 35 Damascus, VA to US 58 Campsite (17.2 miles). 486.4 total miles Very windy today. Good thing is half the time you're on protected side of mtn so you don't feel it. Didn't make it as far as I'd have liked. Started raining late afternoon so stopped at first camping area I came to... Continue reading →

Day 36 US 58 Campsite to Old Orchard Shelter (22.8 miles) 509.2 total mile Windy and rainy most of night but woke up to sunshine. Looking like a good day to get some miles in. Got hiking early. Motivated. Clipping right along until 1 mile into day I run into trail magic.   4 guys... Continue reading →

Day 37 Old Orchard Shelter to VA 603 (1.7 miles) 510.9 miles total Cold, windy, and rainy last night. Not fun! Disappointing day. You can see the frost line (those aren't clouds) on below pic. Tented a couple of hundred feet below there. Brrr! Tented next to 3 guys (Bob, Ed, and Dave) from Fairfax,... Continue reading →

Day 38 VA 603 to Mt Rogers Visitor Center (21.7 miles) 532.6 miles total Good day today. Slack packed and weather was good so did 21.7 miles in 7 hrs. That's moving pretty good for me. Need terrain like today...more down than up and not a lot of rocks and roots. All the streams are... Continue reading →